China Investment Corp (CIC) cannot dispose of its holdings of debt issued by major foreign countries because doing so will hurt the value of its portfolio, the general manager of the sovereign fund said on Tuesday.

"China cannot dispose of the sovereign debt of others, especially some large countries, because our assets on hand will also devalue," Gao Xiqing told the China Overseas Investment Summit.     

CIC was established to seek higher returns from riskier investments using part of the country's foreign exchange stockpile, which at more than $3 trillion is the largest in the world.

The majority of the reserves are believed to be parked in US treasuries. Some European officials have hoped China could offer financial assistance to help them weather the eurozone debt crisis.

Speaking on China's overall overseas investment strategy, Gao said China expected to make a profit from any overseas investments and to have control of or a say in the assets it invests in.

"In the process of investing overseas, we have to be rational and profitable," Gao said. "The attitude some people have is that we can go and invest, leave our money there and just depart. We won't get seats on the board, we won't have any say in how a place is run. That's not how things are done."     

"We frequently meet with foreign regulators whose attitude is that we should give them money and leave everything to them. Nothing comes for free in this world," he added.     

Gao said China would remain cautious about investing its foreign exchange reserves -- foreign currencies earned by its labour-intensive exporters.     

"While China has a lot of foreign reserves, this is the result of old ladies working in villages using bamboo to create items for sale. What have you done that we should hand it over to you?" he asked. - Reuters